Contents

Stage description

The stage begins in a hangar, which then opens up, letting Meta Knight's airship take off. A platform rises from the center, taking the characters with it. Any fighters who are not on the platform when that happens will likely be KO'd, as the platform takes off without them. It then proceeds to float around in the sky, with the Halberd flying in the background. One minute into the match, the platform lands on the Halberd itself, in front of the Combo Cannon, a boss from Kirby Super Star that interferes by locking on to one player and shooting a blast of energy, by extending its arm to swipe at the players, and shooting powerful cannonballs, which is similar to how it attacked in the aforementioned original game, including the giant cannon ball attack. The platform then rises above the ship, and returns to the bridge later again. The process repeats until the match ends.

This stage is usually a counterpick in most tournaments, because while the Combo Cannon's weapons are generally easy to see coming and have strategic merit, they have extreme power and can turn around a match with no effort by the opponent. The unusually low ceiling also gives an advantage to characters whose best KO moves deliver vertical knockback, such as Fox, Snake, and King Dedede. Meta Knight also gains a significant advantage here, as the main platform offboard the Halberd allows sharking underneath the stage.

Origin

The Halberd in flight, as seen in Kirby Super Star.

This stage is from Kirby Super Starand it's remake. In the subgame Revenge of Meta Knight, Meta Knight attempts to take over Dream Land due to its lifestyle. Meta Knight (a Javelin Knight in Revenge of Meta Knight) pilots an airship known as the Halberd. In the beginning of Revenge of Meta Knight a cutscene is shown that depicts the Halberd flying out of a hangar. The design of the Halberd in this stage looks very similar to the Halberd seen in Revenge of Meta Knight. Also, at the beginning of battles the Halberd is seen flying out of a hangar. In order to stop Meta Knight, Kirby must defeat the crew members and destroy the Halberd.

As Kirby is destroying the Halberd, he comes across the ship's main cannon called the Combo Cannon (also known as Main Cannon #2). The Combo Cannon has a main barrel which fires cannonballs at Kirby. The Combo Cannon also features a laser and an arm that will try to grab Kirby. In this stage, the main platform lands in front of the Combo Cannon. The Combo Cannon has retained its ability to fire cannonballs and lasers, but the arm does not grab players as it did in Revenge of Meta Knight, Instead it punches players.

The Combo Cannon

The Combo Cannon

The Combo Cannon is a weapon on board the Halberd. It comes with a beam cannon, a cannon that shoots cannonballs, and a large mechanical arm. It's a boss in a chapter of Revenge of Meta Knight in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra, the latter of which renamed the cannon "Main Cannon #2."

The Combo Cannon is one of the main hazards of the Halberd stage in Brawl. After landing on the Halberd, a green targeting reticle symbol soon appears, following around a random player. After some time, the reticle will fix on a certain spot and the Combo Cannon will either fire a cannonball, a laser beam, or a robotic arm. Unlike what the original game and its trophy description, the arm doesn't hold on to players, but instead collides with them dealing damage and knockback. In the Subspace Emissary, the Combo Cannon can be seen fighting against Fox'sArwing twice, until it was eventually destroyed. The arm also held the Great Fox as the Halberd crashed it into the Glacial Peak.

Brawl trophy description

The main gun of the battleship Halberd. As the name references, it has two guns--the top one shoots out slow-moving shells, and the bottom one fires a powerful laser. There's a mechanical arm at the base that is used to grab enemies and hold them to be blasted by the laser cannon. It has a wide attack range and once shot down Dyna Blade after she aided Kirby.

SSB3DS trophy description

(NTSC) This giant cannon is the main weapon of the Battleship Halberd. Any invader will think twice when cannonballs and laser beams are brought to bear. You'll have to be really careful around these weapons, since even the platforms underfoot will try to lift you into the path of the beam. Watch out!

(PAL) This is the main weapon of the Battleship Halberd. Anyone planning to attack it will think twice then they see the cannonballs and laser beams it fires. If Kirby wants to get past this thing safely, he'll have to stay light on his feet. Even the platforms he walks on are out to get him - they'll try to lift him up into the beam! Watch out, Kirby!

Role in the Subspace Emissary

The Halberd is being commandeered as the mother ship for the Subspace Army during the story. It also engages Fox in an Arwing twice and the Great Fox once. In all these cases the Halberd was too much for its attackers. This makes it the strongest and heaviest of Nintendo's ships in most games, only being overpassed by the Subspace Gunship. It is used to drop off Shadow Bugs. While under the control of the Subspace Army, it is piloted by a group of Shadow Bug duplicates of Mr. Game & Watch, which afterwards coalesce into Duon. Near the end of the story, Meta Knight regains control of the ship and picks up the other protagonists. The ship is later destroyed when it attempts a direct assault on the Subspace Gunship.

It was later revealed in a post on the Smash Bros DOJO website that at some point prior to the start of the game, the Subspace Army stormed the Halberd and captured it. During the fight, Meta Knight was distracted by King Dedede, which allowed the Subspace Army to steal the ship. It is during this incident that King Dedede learns of Tabuu's true motivations. This is what prompts him to construct the Dedede Brooches later. According to the DOJO post, this was originally supposed to be shown in a cinematic, but the scene had to be cut due to time constraints.

Brawl trophy description

Meta Knight's battleship, built to help Meta Knight take control of Dream Land. It's crewed by Meta Knight and the Meta-Knights and is equipped with the Combo Cannon and a shrimplike robot called the Heavy Lobster. Kirby destroys the ship's reactor, causing the Wheelies who power the ship to flee. In the Subspace Emissary, the Halberd released Shadow Bugs, which formed Primids, and caused terrible trouble for our heroes.

Kirby Super Star (NTSC), Kirby Fun Pak (PAL)

SSB3DS trophy description

(NTSC)Kirby's rival, the masked warrior Meta Knight, constructed this ship to conquer Dream Land. Just in case you forget who owns it, the ship's bow is designed to look like his mask. How is a small guy like Kirby supposed to defeat a battleship?! Maybe he'll find a way inside...

(PAL) Kirby's rival, the masked swordsman Meta Knight, built this airship to take over Dream Land. Just so you don't forget who owns it, the ship's bow was designed to look like his mask. How's a little guy like Kirby supposed to take on such a giant battleship?! Guess he'll just have to find a way inside...

Gallery

Trivia

It's interesting to note that this is the only location in The Subspace Emissary that is also a playable stage in multiplayer mode.

This is the only "moving" stage in Brawl that does not return to its original location.

When the main platform takes off at the start of the match, the Pokémon Trainer remains in the hangar, which is strange because in every other moving stage either he has his own floating platform or he Space Jumps to catch up with the stage. He is later seen on the Halberd, meaning that he must've space jumped at one point. In fact, if one looks close enough, they can see him there even when the platform is not ready to land on the Halberd yet.

Once the laser cannon locks onto a player, it will follow them until it fires or until the player is KO'd. It will then pick another target at random, possibly targeting the same player again if he or she is unlucky enough. The claw works in the same way.

If the laser is fired at a high target, laser slightly curves downwards.

If the laser targets a character that uses the Dragoon, the crosshairs strangely move towards the screen until not visible.

If the number of CPUs was set from 1 to 2 or 3 in the Training Mode, 1 or 2 CPUs appear above the platform and go off screen, self-destructing. A similar occurrence happens in the Rainbow Cruise stage in Melee, but not in the Brawl version of said stage.

The same 3D model of the Halberd used in Brawl appears in the CG cutscenes of Kirby Super Star Ultra for the Nintendo DS.

Despite the appearance of the main platform's thickness (the lower one with the central dip), whilst it is in the air, it is possible for any character to jump up through it. However, it is one-way only and cannot be dropped through.

If players look closely at the hangar after taking off with the Halberd, the hangar will vanish into thin air in 6 seconds.

The Halberd's design in the game is based on the Space Battleship Yamato from the Anime of the same name, which is in turn based on the real battleship Yamato.